Several out-of-the-ordinary experiences: from the tourist route inside the largest cave in Italy, which allows you to reach the exact center of the mountain, to the visit to the Versilia Marble Quarries and the Mercury Mine.
The CorchiaPark is the tourist system that offers the cultural and naturalistic wonders of the village of Levigliani and the mountain on which rises: Mount Corchia.
The Park offers a variety of experiences, including:
– Antro del Corchia
The largest cave in Italy, a complex of tunnels, wells and rooms dug by water over millions of years, in the marble heart of Mount Corchia with a path of about 2 km on a steel walkway and lighting
The Antro is accessed through a 170-meter artificial tunnel, dug specifically to provide access to the cave without affecting the natural entrances.
After the tunnel you arrive at the Galleria Franosa, a spectacular Canyon, dozens of meters high.
The visit ends with “l’Anello“, a circular route that offers the most spectacular underground environment you can see: immense rooms adorned with stalactites and stalagmites, spectacular concretions, a series of works of art shaped by water and rock over millions of years.
The visit is guided, takes place in groups and lasts about two hours, the difficulty level of the route corresponds to that of a very light and short trek.
– Cava di Marmo del Piastraio
Known as the “Marble Cathedral“, it offers a spectacular view of the Versilia sea.
The Marble Quarries, dug into the white marble heart of the mountain, have been the economic hub of this territory for over a thousand years and have shaped the culture and history of the communities that inhabit the mountain.
Visiting a quarry means entering a spectacular and completely different environment from what you may have seen before that moment.
The quarry does not respect the human scale, it has the dimensions of giants, ceilings tens and tens of meters high, enormous rooms, gigantic blocks and excavation vehicles weighing up to 80 tons.
– Quicksilver Mines
the oldest mining site in all of Upper Tuscany, Old mercury mines dating back to medieval times
The Levigliani mines constitute a unique environment, of rare mineralogical richness.
Inside them, a new mineral was discovered for the first time, which in honor of the territory was called “Leviglianite”
A route with scenographic effects to understand the work of the miners
The visitable part of the mines is spread over two sites:
the first, very ancient, offers a rare testimony of primitive excavation techniques; This is one of the few sites in the world where you can observe droplets of native mercury coming out of the rock face.
The second one, excavated with the first rudimentary pneumatic hammers at the beginning of the 20th century and equipped with a system of rails for transporting trolleys, represents a true testimony of industrial archaeology of the area and inside it various mineralogical rarities have also been found.
– Museums
With visit included in the entrance ticket for the Antro del Corchia Tourist Caves
– Museum of community and enterprise “Lavorare Liberi”
The community of the town of Levigliani has been linked for centuries to the extraction of marble from the Apuan Alps. The Museum offers visitors a testimony of this economic and social history through objects, documents and testimonies.
– Museo della Pietra Piegata
Located inside the Corchia Park, this museum is dedicated to the culture of white and colored marble in the Apuan Alps. It displays the history and techniques of marble extraction in the region
An overview of marble processing through the centuries: from the roughest objects to finely inlaid works, from common artefacts to sacred works.
Particularly interesting are the stone works of funerary art dating back to the period of the Apuan Ligurians (3rd century BC) found in the nearby necropolis.
Another attraction, also in Levigliani, the ZooPark, a Free Trail with Wooden Sculptures suitable for children and families
Corchia Park
Location Levigliani
Stazzema (Lucca)
Tuscany – Italy
What see province surroundings near places visit Geosites Caves Museums Mines natural tourist attractions